However, in some patients with refractory depression, dopaminergic drugs like amphetamine have some beneficial

effects.15 It is difficult to link the three MK-8776 solubility dmso monoaminergic systems to specific psychiatric disorders. The three systems do not function independently of each other. Neuronal circuits establish functional relationships between serotonergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic systems, which explains why deficiency in one system impairs the other systems as well, and why even specific drugs like the SSRIs arc also able to modulate the other systems. The variety of the clinical uses for the newer antidepressants may necessitate a reexamination of traditional diagnostic categories and of theories on the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical way antidepressants work. Antidepressant drugs

are used in a wide range of psychiatric disorders. Empirical evidence in the 70s suggested that the nonselective serotonin antidepressant Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical clomipramine improved symptoms of OCD.5 Newer generations of antidepressants with fewer side effects have proved to be even more active in OCD.16,17 Furthermore, 5-HT1A serotonin agonists are being investigated in general anxiety disorders.18 5-HT2 receptor antagonists are being tested on schizophrenic symptoms, anxiety, or dysthymia.19 Other potential indications for SSRIs and the new generation of antidepressants are panic disorders, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, eating disorders, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical substance abuse disorder, chronic pain, dementia, and personality disorders with aggression

or impulse disturbances, and general anxiety disorders.20 Depressive symptoms arc frequently diagnosed in patients with schizophrenia and have been described in schizoaffective disorders. They Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical can also occur after the acute phase of schizophrenia or after neuroleptic treatment. SSRIs seem to be useful in combination with antipsychotics to treat this condition.20 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical This may be the reason why such patients are frequently (50% of cases) treated simultaneously with antipsychotics and antidepressants.2 Antidepressants are also useful in the treatment of a group of disorders that may be phenomenologically and genetically related to major depression, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraine, irritable whatever bowel syndrome, atypical facial pain, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.21 It is likely that the etiology of depression (as a symptom) in these disorders is similar to that of major depression as an entity, and therefore would explain the efficacy of SSRIs. Although not impossible, it would be contrary to expectation if the mechanism of antidepressant effect was independent of the mechanism of depression in migraine, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and other conditions. And it would be even more difficult to believe that different, chemically unrelated antidepressant drugs, share the same pharmacological properties while having different mechanisms of action.